uSwitch exclusive: Sony confirms there will be no Xperia Z6

Sony will not bring an Xperia Z6 smartphone to market, we can reveal, in what marks a major change in branding strategy for the handset-maker.

This week Sony launched two new mid-range phones at Mobile World Congress. Dubbed the Xperia X and Xperia XA, the handsets' titles seemed to herald a shift away from the Xperia Z branding Sony has favoured since 2013.

So is this really the end of the Xperia Z range? Very much so, according to Jun Makino Senior Product Marketing Manager at Sony Mobile.

Asked about the possibilty of additions to the Xperia Z family, he exclusively told uSwitch: “I can't comment on the future, but we will not be releasing a Z6."

Pressed further, he reiterated that "there will not be a Z6" and that instead the company is "turning to the next stage, with the Xperia X series”.

Perhaps even more conclusively, Makino told us that plans are afoot for more phones bearing the new branding and that the company's focus now is on "bringing the next generation of Xperia Series of intelligent smartphones".

The Xperia X and XA are the first handsets to bear the imprint of Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai, who outlined his vision for Sony's mobile phones division at last year's Mobile World Congress.

Keen to get a look at the first Xperia X phones? Get up to speed with news directly from the company's MWC launch event.

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